Measuring the COVID-19 Financial Threat to Hospital Markets

Many hospitals have been straining under the financial stress of treating COVID-19 patients. Those experiencing the greatest strain are in markets burdened with high levels of debt and uncompensated care. We propose a new measure of financial risk in a hospital market, combining both pre-existing fi...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Anthony W. Orlando MSc, PhD, Robert I. Field JD, MPH, PhD
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: SAGE Publishing 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/2c84b316113548aa8c89c562bd229742
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
Descripción
Sumario:Many hospitals have been straining under the financial stress of treating COVID-19 patients. Those experiencing the greatest strain are in markets burdened with high levels of debt and uncompensated care. We propose a new measure of financial risk in a hospital market, combining both pre-existing financial vulnerability and COVID-19 severity. It reveals the highest concentrations of risk in counties with high poverty, low population density, and high shares of foreign-born and non-White populations. The CARES Act Provider Relief Fund helped many of the hospitals in these regions, but it left many markets with the same overall vulnerability to financial strain from the next health crisis.